February 25 - Catch Ceres at Its Closest In Our Lifetime

[Dover]

Catch Ceres at Its Closest




When Giuseppe Piazzi discovered the first asteroid, 1 Ceres, on January 1, 1801, it was magnitude 8.0. This year you can see it nearly three times that bright, at magnitude 6.9, from mid-February through the first week of March. In fact, this is as close and bright as Ceres will become in our lifetimes.

Ceres reaches opposition on February 25th. Using the best available orbital elements and perturbation corrections, S&T’s Roger Sinnott finds that “on February 25th at 23.6 hours UT, Ceres will pass closer to Earth <1.583198 a.u.> than it has been since 1857. Ceres won’t be this close again until 4164!”


Click above for a full-page, printable, black-and-white chart in PDF format.This happens because the asteroid is at perihelion, its closest to the Sun in orbit, just two weeks earlier. Winter oppositions of Ceres (winter in the Northern Hemisphere) are when it gets especially close and bright.

You can spot it with binoculars in Leo using the chart at right. (Click here for a full-page, printable, black-and-white chart in PDF format.) A typical binocular’s field of view is about 6° across; compare this with the ticks 10° apart on the chart's right edge...cont'd

http://www.skyandtelescope.com/observing/objects/asteroids/35387769.html

[Dover]

1. In Myth - Ceres, Goddess of the Environment

Ceres, Goddess of the Environment


Those who have explored astrology beyond the entertaining Sun Sign forecasts know that the horoscope consists of several planets, not just the Sun. Each planet represents, in psychological terms, an archetype which describes a pattern of needs or motivations. While the Sun shows basic character traits and the drive to be an individual, the Moon provides a glimpse into the emotional needs, especially for tribal or family connections. Mercury describes how one processes and communicates information, Venus (the Love Goddess) represents personal magnetism, and Mars is our Inner Warrior.

Traditional astrology uses ten planets, but of these only the Moon and Venus are feminine. The rest are masculine, an imbalance reflected in the patriarchal structure of civilization built over the last 5,000 years. But the times are changing, and many women are participating equally in the economic, political, and social development of our society. Astrologers who recognize this paradigm shift use four asteroids in the horoscope to bring gender balance to the interpretive picture. Each of these asteroids is primarily feminine in nature, and each represents a specific set of feminine qualities which can be called the Goddess powers.

Ceres is the largest of the four major asteroids, and is generally known as the Great Mother. In ancient mythology Ceres was the Goddess of agriculture and the harvest, and symbolized the cultivated, fertile soil that fed and provided for humanity. She was worshipped as the all-nourishing mother. Her primary story is about how her daughter Persephone was kidnapped by Pluto. When Ceres grieved over this loss, all the abundance of nature dried up. When Persephone was eventually returned, Ceres rejoiced, and seeds sprouted, flowers bloomed, and crops once again filled the field...cont'd

http://www.astrostar.com/articles/Ceres.htm

[Bill McBlueState]

2. Ceres reaches opposition a little less frequently than once a year

I wonder how much closer it will be than usual during this opposition.